It's been said that food is becoming the new oil. Therefore it's no surprise that businesses are flocking to the agriculture sector to acquire shares in the food market.

But how are they realising this “promising” business venture? Through the acquisition of land...foreign land.

Modern day land grab, the new colonialism, call it what you like, but foreign investors and governments are heading to developing countries, many in Africa and Asia, to purchase land to grow food.

The world population is growing, so the demand for food is increasing; unfortunately, we are in short supply. For those who find that hard to believe, remember those high prices we paid for groceries in 2007 and 2008? Global food prices were at an all-time high in that period, and though prices have fallen, there is still not enough food to go around. The effects of climate change - namely droughts and floods - threatens the food supply, too. Additionally, deforestation, which is also a large contributor of CO2 emissions, plays a role in decreasing the fertility of land.

Investors see buying land in developing countries as a lucrative investment, and why not? There is lack of land tenure, governments want money and in many cases are unstable, regulation is scarce, and therefore land is cheap - and so is labour, should investors choose to exploit it.

Sure this is good for business. More food is produced and a business can receive a higher return on investment (land can be expensive, so if it costs next to nothing then you receive a higher return). However, this issue is not only an ethical dilemma, it's also an environmental dilemma.

On the ethics side, many of these businesses are purchasing land to feed populations often outside of the country where they bought the land. This is problematic, as many of these countries already have food shortages and often rely on food aid.

Ethiopia is one such example. Though land tenure or ownership is not on record, people have lived and worked on the land for years, many of them farming. When land is sold by the government these people are left landless and their livelihoods taken away.

Furthermore, small-scale farmers do not have the resources to compete with big business and as a result will be pushed out of the system. In a capitalistic society we may see this is a good thing, but it is fatal for countries where capitalistic mechanisms are not fully in place and jobs are already scarce.

Perhaps most troubling are the non-transparent business deals going on between the governments and companies. Governments are selling land way under value, without public consent and without regulations, to people eager to exploit the land for their own gain.

On the topic of regulations, of great concern is the lack of environmental regulations. Due to the cheapness of the land, there is no incentive to practice sustainability. Businesses can simply buy more land when the land they were using becomes poor in quality. Also, agriculture requires a lot of water. If there are no regulations in place to dictate to businesses how much water they can use or where they can get their water, businesses can also use that resource unsustainably.

Another question is, what happens when companies decide to buy rights to water resources (which is not uncommon)? What will local communities have to drink? We already live in a world where approximately 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean, safe drinking water and where 2.4 billion do not have access to basic sanitation. These are the major environmental issues when it comes to this practice of buying land for agriculture use in developing countries and they are yet to be addressed.

Could this situation be win-win? Possibly. There are promises of new technology, a few schools and hospitals, infrastructure and so on. Regrettably, the history of transnational corporations and developing countries, more often than not, has been unpleasant - especially when it comes to natural resources. Increased corruption and conflict (take for example Royal Dutch Shell in the Niger Delta), unkept promises and unsustainable projects (abandoned wells and schools) are just a few of the problems that have taken place.

The only ways that this new venture can work are if there are regulations in place, both at an environmental and business level; if governments and businesses are held accountable for their actions; and most importantly, if the rights of the people are observed. The World Bank and others are looking to develop a code for investors, but sometimes that is not enough in weak states. At the end of the day, land grab in developing countries cannot be a free-for-all and that must be ensured.

Kathleen Rogers is the President of the Earth Day Network.